Local farmer to sell tulips at Tulip Time

May 1—Flower-loving tourists travelling to Pella for Tulip Time have a special treat to look forward to at the festival, where Mahaska County native Meredith Nunnikhoven will be selling Iowa-grown tulips on the bulb.

Visitors to Pella are enjoying a bounty of brightly-colored blooms this spring as the community gears up for its annual Tulip Time Festival, a floral showcase of the area's rich Dutch heritage that dates back to the 1930s. One of the ground rules for the festival is that visitors are not to pick the town's famous tulips from their colorful beds.

This year, however, marks the first time that the Pella Historical Society will be offering the perfect alternative in the form of Nunnikhoven, who owns and operates Oskaloosa's very own flower farm, Barnswallow Flowers.

Nunnikhoven, of Dutch heritage herself, is excited to offer brightly colored varieties of the Dutch tulip, which she says is a low-maintenance, hardy flower by nature.

"I think what makes this flower so special ... is we just simply have to give them a chance," Nunnikhoven says. "We just have to put them in the ground facing upwards toward the sky, cover them up, and then hope for a decent spring to pull them out. They do their job without me doing hardly anything."

Nunnikhoven says tulips are sturdy, persistent plants, even when faced with the unpredictable weather an Iowa spring can bring.

"When a flower can grow this well with a stem length of over two feet, that is a heroic thing that they're doing for us, because [Barnswallow Flowers] grows all all its flowers outside, so wind, hail, sleet, snow — all this stuff has happened in the months of March and April," she says. "But the tulip just kept going. It never stopped growing. It never gave up. There will be other annuals that we grow, and even perennials that will give up, but tulips are just strong and mighty."

Nunnikhoven, who imports all of her tulip bulbs from the Netherlands, appreciates the rich history of tulips and the great legacy of the Dutch flower farmers, who began growing tulips during the 1500s.

"The Holland farmers know their stuff," Nunnikhoven says. "They have been growing bulbs for a long time. They are true bulb farmers."

Nunnikhoven has sold tulips on the bulb at Tulip Time in the past, but only from within another business. This year, her stand stationed between the Vermeer Windmill and the Pella Historical Village will mark the first time that a vendor has sold tulips in partnership with the Pella Historical Society.

"We've been amazed at the number of people who come in and ask us 'Who sells cut tulips around here?'" says Valerie Van Kooten, executive director at the Pella Historical Society. "So we thought we'd give it a try. We'll see what happens, and hopefully it does really well for her."

Nunnikhoven will be selling tulips of all different varieties from her stand starting Monday, May 1 through Sunday, May 7. Her tulips will be available at multiple quantities and price points, starting at $5. Tulips will come with an instructional pamphlet outlining proper care of cut tulips, as well as the process of planting the bulb so that customers can grow tulips of their own.

The annual Tulip Time Festival is set to kick off Thursday, May 4, continuing through Sunday, May 6. More information is available online at pellahistorical.org/tuliptimeschedule

Channing Rucks can be reached at crucks@oskyherald.com.